Former VP Biden Gives Emotional Tribute At McCain's Memorial Service

The first memorial service for Senator John McCain was held today in his home state of Arizona. In his eulogy, former Vice President Joe Biden remembered his longtime friend and Senate colleague as a man who judged people by their values, not their politics. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

DON GONYEA, BYLINE: This service in Phoenix was a chance for McCain's home state to bid him farewell.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AMAZING GRACE")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) Amazing grace, how sweet the sound...

GONYEA: The first emotional moment came when McCain's daughter, Bridget, fought through tears to read from Ecclesiastes.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BRIDGET MCCAIN: A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck that which is planted.

GONYEA: Friends told stories. Yes, they noted McCain's courage while a POW in North Vietnam and his service in the Senate. But mostly, it was tales of small moments, of how bad a driver McCain was or his embarrassingly blunt manner. Tommy Espinoza, a Mexican-American and activist, recalled getting a phone call back in the '80s. McCain, he says, was talking a hundred miles an hour about running for Senate for the first time.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TOMMY ESPINOZA: And he says, I want you to co-chair my campaign. I said, well, John, you know I'm a Democrat.

(LAUGHTER)

GONYEA: McCain answered...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ESPINOZA: He said, I don't care. You're my friend. I want you to co-chair. I said, well, let me sleep on it. No, no, no, you give me an answer right now - yes or no. And of course I said yes.

GONYEA: After close to an hour, the final speaker stood before the gathered audience, opening with a confession.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOE BIDEN: My name is Joe Biden.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: I'm a Democrat.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: And I love John McCain.

GONYEA: Former Vice President Biden and McCain were U.S. senators together for more than 20 years. Biden recalled what it was like to witness a true John McCain moment.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BIDEN: Or when you saw the sheer joy that crossed his face the moment he knew he was about to get up and take the stage of the Senate floor and start a fight.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: God, he loved it.

(LAUGHTER)

GONYEA: He described McCain's, quote, "ancient code" - fairness, civility, duty. And then Biden seemed to be speaking to the current president. He said, you could always disagree with John McCain.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BIDEN: But where he'd part company with you if you lacked the basic values of decency, respect, knowing that this project is bigger than yourself.

GONYEA: Biden noted that he lost his son, Beau, three years ago to the same type of cancer that killed McCain. He spoke from an emotional place as he addressed McCain's family.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BIDEN: And I know right now the pain you all are feeling is so sharp and so hollowing, and John's absence is all-consuming for all of you right now. It's like being sucked into a black hole inside your chest.

GONYEA: But Biden said from experience he knows that the day will come when memories of a lost loved one bring smiles before they bring tears. His final words were that John McCain's legacy is far from complete.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BIDEN: To paraphrase Shakespeare, we shall not see his like again.

(APPLAUSE)

GONYEA: Former Vice President Joe Biden at a service for Senator John McCain in Phoenix this afternoon. Don Gonyea, NPR News.